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THE !'JOBLE Mel\10RIAL .. THE !'JOBLE MEl\10RIAL ii Grand Pre, 17 45-17 55 War, romance and adventure seem far a,vay from the wide _marshes, bounded by the sw~lling tides of Grand Pre, yet here was set the stage o~ a continen~-,vide moven1ent-invoiving tlie conflict of two great natio:q.s, making the decade from 1745 to 1755 memorable in history, in the days ·when Ge9rge II was king of Britain arid Louis XV king of France. The struggle be­ tween them occupied two great zones-East India and North -America. Canada Becomes a British Possession Thirty-five yPars previously Generai Nicholson with a Ne,v England . contingent sailed into ·Annapolis Basin_ and obtained possession of Port Royal and the cession of Nova Scotia. Other­ ,vise, Acadia, Cape Breton -and all Canada ,vere. under French rule, which also claimed the vast regions beyond the Alleghanies and Louisiana-while the thirteen colonies on the Atlantic sea­ board aione o,ved allegiance to Britain. France had expended seven millions of dollars in making Louisburg an impregnable fortress.- The French · aiso took possession of the Isthn1us of Chignecto and fortified it at Beausejour and· Gaspcreau, to com­ mand both bays. Excep~ the hundred or t,vo of the garrison at Annapolis, all Canada and Acadia were occupied by the French. French settlements had gro,vn up about the marshes on the Bay of Fundy-Annapolis, Canard, Piziquid (\Vindsor), Cobiquid (Truro) and Grand Pre, all on the Basin of 11inas. The habitant was a peace-loving, industrious, domestic man, attached to the soil and to his home. Except a paltry quit rent which but fe,v paid, they ,vere subject to no ta.xes. They had their o,vn chapels and missionaries·-the latter being paid for by the French govern­ ment. No people ,vere 1nore free or exempt fro1n official intrusion or interference, but they steadily refused to take the oath of allegi[l_nce to· the British Cro,vn. Their nun1ber-morc than 12,000--gave then1 a feeling of strength and independence that a heavily garrisoned people ,vould not possess. .Grand Pre the Centre of the Stage Grand Pre ,vas the centre of the stage. To the East ,vas Louisburg; to the \Yest .Annapolis, 90 n1iles, and to .the North Beausejour the same distance, while in the South West Boston was nearly 400 miles, and Quebec about the same distance in the North ,vest.- This ,vas the stage of action across which a stately' pageant progressed ,vithout halt or break, casting do'\\111, building up and changing the political face of the c;ontinent. In 1744, ,var ,vas declared bet\"'veen England and France and Annapolis Royal "'ithstood three successive sieges by land forces. The next year, a New England force of volunteers ·under Pepperell captured Louisburg. · The follo,ving year (17 46} D 'Anville 's mighty expedition of 39 ships and a s,varm of transports sailed from France to retake Louisburg and then to conquer Ne,v England. It met with an enemy greater than man; the storms of the Atlantic scattered ~nd shattered the fleet; and only a remnant lived to reach France. To co-operate in Acadia ,vith this fleet the French governor at Quebec sent do,vn to Acadia 700 men under De Ramesay. _ Life and Death Struggle News of these movements alarmed the Governors of New England and forces were organized at different points to resist them._ Governor Shirley of New· England in November, 1746, des­ patched a force of 4 70 men to ·Annapolis Royal to take up a po­ sition at Grand Pre to check raids by land on _,i.\nnapolis Royal.. It was not until 12th December before the body of them reached Grand Pre, too late to -erect a fortified post, so the men were billeted in some 24 French d,vellings scattered along the edge of the upland from Grand Pre to the Gaspereau River, which their owners had temporarily rented to the English, and then retired else,vhere. De Ramsay at Chignecto-being advised of the posi­ tion_ of Noble's conunand despatched on Januc1ry 19th, about 300 Canadian militia, Acadians and Indians to attack them. The year before a road 40 n1iles long had been cut out by French officers on the route via Bay \rerte, '\Vallace, Tatrunagouche, Shubenacadie and Pisiquid, but such ,vere the difficulties met ,vith---sno,v siorn1s altern?lting ,vith severe ,vcathcr---that it took them 22 days to reach Grand Pre. Heavy snc>\v on the ground and a thick sno,vstorm prcYailing favored their attack at three o'clock in the m.orning of the 11th, 174 7. The shoot int of the sentinels at tl1e houses av;akened the sleeping 1ncn; this ,vas followed by immediate forcing of entrances when the slaughter coµunenced. It ,vas all over at 11 o'clock a.m. ,vhen the Ne,v Englanders surrendered. They lost over 70 men killed, including Col. Noble," 60 wounded and 60 prisoners. The others were re-· leased and returned to Annapolis Royal. French Account of the Battle ·"The French account of the expedition states that M. de Ramesay being disabled entrusted the co~and to M. de Coulon, which started on 17th, arriyjng at Piziquid on 9th February, passing the night with the inhabitants. · The next day they halted after making two leagues, to make a surprise attack at night. M. de Coulon divided the corps into ten detachments. He took with rum M. de Beaujeu, Majors Delignous, Lemercier, Lery, four cadets and 75 men, and gave to each officer 28 men to at­ tack 10 houses. They did not have enough men to attack 24 houses. They arrived at 9 o'clock at _the River Gaspereaux. After 11 o'clock they resumed the march with guides to con­ duct each party to the house assigned to them. They ar­ rived at Grand Pre at 3.30, the sno,v and cold proving very troublesome. The houses were ,vell guarded, but the sentinels did not discover then1 until within gun range. They made a lively attack and forced the houses with axes and in a very little tin1e made the1nselves masters of th~m as well as of a boJ.t and a sloop of 80 tons that had transported their effects. The enemy lost 140 men, an1ongst them Col. Noble, his brother, and three officers, 28 wounded and 54 prisoners. The enemy made a sortie to recapture the stone l:ouse that had been occupied by Col. Noble, but failed. The second in con1n1and crune ,viih a flag of truce to ,vhere I ,vas to ask for a- suspension of anus till 9 the next n1orning, 1\-1. de Coulon being ,voundcd and three quarters of a mile a·way at GaspereatLx. This ,vas granted." · Terms of Capitulation The articles agreed upon ,vere: "1st. That the British ,vere to leave in 48 hours for An­ napolis ,vith the honors of ,va~. 2nd. That English prisoners in French houses ren1ain as prisoners of ,var. 3rd. That the boat and sloop be not giv-en up. 4th. That the pillage of the sayages be not given up. 5th. -That the sick and ,vounded ,vould have leave to re­ - 1nain at Canard river, until they could be moved. 6th. That the troops engaged should not. carry- arms (in · the Valley) for six months. On 13th, the weather being extremely unpleasant, I gave them till next day to 4lter the dead-a guard of 2 sergeants and 12 men. · _ ·_ · C,n 14th, the corps being ready to go, I ordered 6. officers and 60 men upon the field. They formed in two files, between which they passed in twos to the number of 330. We counted 14 Officers, a Comn1issary, a Secret~, a Doctor and another Sur­ geon. I gave them provisions and 20 Acadians to accompany them to the first ho11:ses at Port Royal.'; (The report was signed the Chevalier de La Corne.) · -Th_e Curtain Rung Down on a Stage of Tragedy . The destruction of the Noble command produced conster- nation in Ne,v England. The colo~ial governments and people realized that they held Acadia -by a slender thread that might at any moment snap. In 1748, peace was signed and by its terms Louisburg ,vas restored to France. This act ,vas the first fracture of a split that thirty years later rent apart Britain and the thir­ teen colonies. The next year Cornwallis with 1,200 settlers found­ ed Halifax and transferred there the government from Annapolis Royal. _ In 1748, Britain captured Louisburg. In 1750, the French on the. rivers east of the Missiquash burnt thejr homes ar..d retired to Beausejour where they were organiz£d into companies. A force from Halifax established a fort at ·Beaubassin (Fort La,vrence). ·· To n1eet the intense anxiety of the people of Massachusetts, Ne\v York, Pennsylvania and Virginia, fearing for their existence with the union of French and Indian tribes ,vorking from Louisi­ ana to Quebec, Britain undertook four expedjtions, as follo,vs: (1) Du Quesnc-V1·here Pittsburg no,v stands on the Ohio. (2) Beauscjour, to destroy French po,ver in Acadia. (3) Cro,vn Point on Lake Champlain, commanding the Southern higlnvay to Lake Ontario. (4) Niagara, cutting off connection bet,veen Canada pro­ per and the Great Lakes. Of these four, Beausejour alone was successful. Braddock ·was ~efeated. The battle of Lake George ,vas won by Sir William Johnston without gaining CroV1n Point. Shirley's expedition to Niagara was abandoned.
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